First thing is first. I love having a 13 month old during warmer weather! Love it. Last year at this time Jack was barely a month old, not doing much, and it was still pretty awful outside. Everyone was exhausted and overall, it wasn’t fun like it is now. Let’s face it, having a newborn in winter weather isn’t exactly fun. You are pretty much stuck inside.

Yesterday we went outside 3 different times. We went to the store, I made Jack walk holding my hands, through the parking lot. When we got home we played in our back yard.

He loved walking around outside

making his way through the grass

I truly believe you haven't had a full childhood until you have pressed your face to a screen. He did this all on his own 🙂 Clearly my child

We had a blast. It was still morning time. We had a long and warmer day ahead of us. Nap time came after this trip outside. I have to say I found nap time particularly boring yesterday. I just kept hoping he would wake up soon so we could head to the park. It just looked too pretty outside to be stuck inside!

After he rested he agreed, a trip to the park was definitely needed.

This boy loves nothing more in life than being on a swing

Yay for Spring!

We had a blast. He played with some of his toys. Another boy came up and snatched one of his toys without asking. His face was priceless. He definitely does not like it when people act unfairly. He was not happy. He did something similar at the Children’s Museum last weekend when a 5 or 6 year old started shouting at him and messing with him and what he was playing with. He smacked the kid’s hand and stared him down. Yesterday he just gave the kid a dirty look because that kid’s mom intervened. I don’t want him hitting, however, at the Museum this kid that messed with him was in the wrong and Jack was only standing up for himself. We were in a baby/toddler area and this kid did not belong there. His mom actually picked him up and PUT him in the baby/toddler area! She was in the wrong and so I let my child handle himself. I was proud. We were right there if we needed to step in. I definitely want him to know that it is ok to stand up for yourself if someone is treating you wrong. Once he has more of a vocabulary we will work on using his words. For now the only way he could express those feelings was to swat the kids hand away from him.

On to the afternoon. We came home and had some down time and a snack. We watched some Toy Story 2 together. I had apples and peanut butter. Jack had his favorite movie snack, cheerios! We both started to get antsy before the movie was even over so back outside is where we went. We even walked down to the beach behind our house. I made him walk all the way there, holding my hands. He was interested in walking very close to the water. He loves swimming, but I explained to him that it was still way too cold for that. I know this summer we will be in this lake a lot. He was already itching to check it out. My little fishy!

He was interested in what was on his hand. He likes sand more than grass though

We spent a nice amount of time just playing in the grass. He was filling his buckets with toys, dumping them out, and filling them back up. Wait until he realizes you can do this with sand and dirt! I will admit, I was anxious over how dirty he was getting. Crawling on the ground and his new shoes were filthy (as you can see above) but I let it go. I have to get used to that, he is a little boy after all. I remember how filthy I got playing outside as a child and I am a girl! Granted I have two brothers, so my playmates were boys. I still have to get past my current “no don’t touch that” instinct. I think I did well yesterday. I didn’t stop him from doing anything that wasn’t dangerous! Phewf, I survived! He had a blast. And it felt good to get out of the stuffy indoor scene.

Today is supposed to be even warmer. We have swim in a little while. But I expect we will spend a good amount of time outside again. Maybe we will go to the other park that is a little farther of walk but smaller and more geared towards the littler ones.